It has been demonstrated that a hardened long-rod penetrator delivering in excess of 5 megajoules of energy at hypersonic velocity to the armor of a tank can penetrate the armor and destroy the tank. This generally involves boosting the rod to hypersonic velocity using a gun-launched munition or a rocket motor.
Increased deployment of gun-launched and rocket-launched ordinance has resulted in their application to a wider variety of targets, which in turn has resulted in the production of different types of munitions and rockets adapted to carry kinetic penetrator rods. The different types of munitions and rockets required to defeat a variety of targets generally increases the need for producing and maintaining a large inventory of munitions and missiles.
Because they are unguided, gun-launched munitions that include kinetic penetrator rods are generally effective at relatively short ranges. Accurate guidance may extend the effective range of these gun-launched munitions. Rocket-launched missiles, such as direct fire missiles, may include kinetic penetrator rods and have a range in excess of gun-launched munitions.
Measurement of roll angle is generally required for projectile guidance in either gun-launched or rocket-launched ordinance; however, launch acceleration forces experienced by the projectile may damage conventional inertial measurement guidance systems. Various methods of measuring roll angle using solid-state electronics capable of withstanding launch acceleration have been previously demonstrated.
A guidance system for use in both gun-launched munitions and rocket-launched missiles suitably configured to deliver kinetic energy projectiles would be desirable. This would result in greater mission flexibility and reduced inventory for guided kinetic penetrator projectiles.